Private William Cooper, of the 24th Foot, fought at the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift during the Zulu War. He was among 140 British soldiers who held off repeated onslaughts by thousands of Zulus.

On Saturday, a two-hour ceremony was held before a plaque was mounted on the front wall of Pte Cooper's former home in Cranmer Road, Worthing.
Isabel Forester, who now lives at the address, and Worthing deputy mayor Noel Atkins, pulled away a Union flag to reveal the memorial, which was blessed by the Rev David Farrant.

Cranmer Road was closed to traffic for the two-hour ceremony, which included a parade from St Dunstan's Road and finished with the national anthem.

The ceremony was attended by Prince Velekhaya Shange, a member of the Zulu royal family, Brighton Welsh Male Voice Choir, which sang Men of Harlech, Lancing Brass band, standard bearers from Worthing Combined Ex-Services Association, a bugler from the Royal Welsh Regiment, Zulu War expert Ian Knight, re-enactors in the 19th-century scarlet uniform of the 24th Foot, and the Royal Sussex Regiment Living History Group.

Relatives of other Rorke's Drift veterans were also present, along with Hove actor Tom Gerard, who appeared in the film Zulu, playing a British soldier.

William Cooper died at his home in Cranmer Road in February, 1942, aged 86, due to carbon monoxide poisoning, after placing his head in a gas oven.

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